Response: June 18, 2009

Today an email from Dr. Rusty Barceló was distributed by the dance office specialist to the dancemajors email listserv only:

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:41:36 -0500
From: Jessica Crary
To: dancemajors@cla.umn.edu
Cc: Ananya Chatterjea ,
chapi001@umn.edu

Subject: [Dancemajors] From Dr. Rusty Barceló

Dear Dance Program Students,

Over the past few weeks, the Office for Equity and Diversity staff have had the opportunity to meet with various groups and individuals to discuss the THIS protest in the Dance Program. We also would like the opportunity to meet with a broader range of students in the Dance Program to gain your perspectives about any aspect of the protest and/or the Program.

I would like to invite you to participate in a meeting set for Friday, June 26, 2009 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm in room 432 Morrill Hall. For those of you unable to attend in person, we are making it possible for you to participate via a conference call. Please contact Celest Miller by Wednesday, June 24th at 612-626-9836 or mill3761@umn.edu to set up a conference call connection.

We are aware that the timing of this is not ideal and not many students are on campus right now. However, we believe it is important to gain as many voices as possible in order to determine future directions. I hope that you will be able to participate on some level.


Dr. Rusty Barceló
Vice President and Vice Provost
Office for Equity and Diversity

Response: May 15, 2009

We received an email from the Office for Equity and Diversity, with the following text of the letter that was distributed today on all the dance (dance, dance majors, dance musicians, dance faculty, dance staff) and theater listservs. We will be commenting in our continually updated annotated timeline soon.

Sub: memo from VP Barceló and Dean Parente
Date: May 15, 2009 10:32AM

May 15, 2009


To: Students, staff, and faculty of U of M’s Dance Program and members of the larger community, both locally and nationally

From: Nancy “Rusty” Barceló
Vice President and Vice Provost, Office for Equity and Diversity

James A. Parente, Jr.
Dean, College of Liberal Arts

We are aware that broad-based grave concern exists for a positive resolution to the ongoing protest initiated by a coalition of students within the Dance Program at the University of Minnesota. We are also aware that there is concern that a lack of timely, decisive response has fueled suspicion that the issues raised are not being taken seriously and that a strategy of riding out the criticism until the end of the semester is being deployed by university administrators.

We write to let you know that this is not the case at any level of administration. To be sure, the issues being raised are enormously complex, sensitive, and painful for all involved. None of these are easily addressed or dismissed, and a real solution involves a sustained commitment to working on these issues together. The artistic, political, pedagogical and intellectual work of the Dance Program, and the dedication and commitment of several faculty members to such work, has helped to nurture and create a space where this kind of difficult student-led dialogue can begin. The Dance Program, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Office of Equity and Diversity are working towards a collaborative process that demonstrates commitment from all sides and which takes into account not only the institutional issues that need to be addressed (curricular reform, review of processes, department and institutional environment) but also the deeply emotional wounds experienced by all sides. The wounds that have resulted from the articulation of grievances not only speak to the recent incidences that gave rise to the protest, but they are also, unfortunately, part of the social legacy we all have inherited. In order to reform how we do our work to create a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment committed to excellence, we need an integrated approach that takes into account all constituents’ needs and concerns. This is no easy task. We need patience and input from all parties involved so we can achieve meaningful and sustainable outcomes. We urge all parties to refrain from making hasty judgments or personalized attacks that might generate injury and pain, thereby undermining the possibilities for productively advancing this dialogue. If we can do this together, the protest and the institutional response can serve as a model for institutional reform.

In order to take steps in this direction, we announce some immediate first steps below. More importantly, we are committed to approaching the upcoming town hall meeting as a workshop that will identify a sustained process for addressing comprehensively all impediments to a healthy community and learning environment, one that is supportive and nurturing of inclusivity and diversity of opinion on complex social issues, including the inherent power dynamics embedded in an educational setting. The steps below are only first steps and not designed to address the range of issues raised by the protest. We ask that all parties involved approach the town hall in a reflective and thoughtful manner that can lead towards pragmatic solutions. While we understand that it may be difficult to refrain from personalizing the issues, we believe it is healthier to approach these challenges from a structural perspective that can lead to sustained change.

Here are actions raised by students, faculty and staff that we propose to act on immediately:

• Provide space for expressions of dissent within the department
• Initiate a process and establish a committee to re-think imagery/symbols on the walls of Barker to signify a commitment to a multi-ethnic dance heritage
• Establish staffed temporary safe zones within the department for students, faculty, staff and community members to express dissent, grievances, and dissatisfaction without fear of recrimination
• Invite the Student Conflict Resolution Center to continue to act as mediator
• Provide program advisors with a regularly updated, comprehensive list of CLA courses that typically have diverse racial/ethnic enrollment
• Provide department faculty with information and training about University policies on student confidentiality and privacy
• Make small-grant funds available to support the Peers and Student Dance Coalition to hold student-only meetings to discuss issues
• Continue to make students aware, on a regular basis, of campus resources to address eating disorders, depression, and other difficulties, etc.
• Make students aware of all the ways they can communicate grievances about the department and/or faculty
• Continue to have active student representation on faculty hiring committees
• Make available to students the departmental organizational chart and roles of the faculty and staff
• Disseminate agendas in advance of town hall meetings; establish a system for requesting agenda items and disseminate minutes to students, faculty, and staff after town hall meetings
• Share casting policies and timelines in writing with students before auditions
• Make a public statement in writing regarding the steps that the department is taking to build and sustain an ongoing dialogue about its policies and practices
• Communicate publicly about the next steps to be addressed after the May 19 workshop.

If you are a University of Minnesota community member that believes you have experienced problems that need to be addressed the following resources are available to you:

• Administration of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance and Dance Program
• Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
• Student Conflict Resolution Center
• Office for Conflict Resolution
• Office of the Dean, College of Liberal Arts

We very much appreciate your willingness to participate in working collectively with us to address the necessary changes to ensure a mutually supportive and inclusive environment in the Dance Program.

responses: April 6, 2009

Carl Flink sent the following email cosigned by him and Dr. Ananya Chatterjea. See the April 6 entry in the annotated timeline for our responses to pertinent quotes from this email.

Subject: [Dance] Today's Peers Brown Bag Lunch - Please Attend

Date: April 6, 2009 9:39 AMTo: THEATRE-L@LISTS.UMN.EDU , 'Dance list serve', dancemajors@cla.umn.edu
CC: 'Ananya Chatterjea', 'sos', 'TAD FacStaff Mailing List'

Dear Theatre Arts & Dance Students:

We want to thank the department peers for taking on the task of continuing the discussions going on among students around race, privilege and power dynamics within our department in an open and public manner. We encourage as many of you to attend this brown bag lunch as possible, especially inlight of the changes made by another group of individuals to the THIS materials at the Barker last night that we were unaware of until earlier this morning.

We're not certain if it has been made clear that the peers asked Josh Casper from the U of MN Ombudsmen's Office to facilitate this brown bag. Josh has been a real asset during the discussions around THIS and we think his presence at this meeting can only be a benefit. We look forward to hearing back from the peers after today's brown bag lunch.

We strongly hope that both dance and theatre arts students will come together to join in this discussion. These are difficult and multifacted conversations, but we also think they present an opportunity to bridge the gaps that stubbornly continue to separate many of the programs in our department as we look for next constructive steps in this process.

Our Sincere Best Wishes,
Carl & Ananya

Carl Flink Ananya Chatterjea
Theatre Arts & Dance Chair Dance Program Director

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